1/3-Scale Cessna L-19 "Bird Dog" Kit by Peter Goldsmith Designs

[JimD]

With the flap hinge assemblies in place, the flap travel and pushrod clearance can be checked and adjustments made as needed. We found it necessary to relieve the top wing skin sheeting along the trailing edge for smooth operation of the flaps.









Both the wing TE along the aileron hinge line and the aileron LE need to be sanded slighly. Refer to the plan cross section for how this should look.



Wing TE view



Aileron LE view.



Hingeline view.

[MarnochS]

Excellent Stuff

[BryanB]

Are kits being cut or are some details still being worked out?

[lenb]

Kits were cut and are available, you would need to check with Peter for delivery availablilty. We flew Peters in Cumberland last fall.

[Pgoldsmith]

Typically ships within 7 days once the order is received.

https://Www.petergoldsmithdesigns.com

[JimD]

A plywood root rib "cap" goes between the wing and the fuselage. This rib is held tight to the fuselage while epoxy with filler fills any void between the two. Peter uses this same technique to mate wings to fuselage sides on his other kits that have plug on wings.

1/32" sheeting is trimmed flush with the wR1 rib, but note that the wing tube socket extends the width of the "cap" rib beyond rib wR1.


Note that the wing tube socket is flush with the outside of the cap rib. fNote also that the cap rib is slightly oversize compared to wR1 so that it covers the exposed ends of the 1/32" plywood wing skin sheeting.



Make sure that the wings mate to the fuselage properly. We had to trim the top of the outer window frames slightly to clear the bottom edge of the wings.


When gluing the cap ribs to the wings, use some type of non-stick material to avoid inadvertently gluing the sings to the fuselage. Duct tape works well and is easier to keep in place than wax paper.



Mix epoxy with filler, slide the cap ribs on over the wing tube, spread a generous amount of epoxy mix onto the wing root ribs and slide the wings onto the wing tube and bolt into place.


Check for gaps and if there is a large gap, use small pieces of scrap basswood to wedge between the cap rib and the wing root rib.





Once epoxy sets, trim the wedges flush and add filler as needed to remaining gaps. finally, sand the cap rib flush with the wing skins and result is a nice gapless fit between wing and fuselage.

[JimD]

Struts and fabricated from five pieces of 1/4"x1/2" basswood laminated together the produce a cross section 1/2"x1-1/4". With the wings fitted to the fuselage, use two sticks that can slide into the strut sockets in the fuselage and wing. Measure the length and transfer this to the struts and cut them to length.




Sand the struts smooth and round the edges.


Check the fit and trim slightly as needed for an exact fit. Peter lined the strut sockets with the fuzzy side of sticky back Velcro to cushion the ends of the struts and prevent them from rattling in the sockets. Struts are NOT screwed to either end, just a friction fit.

Hold balsa wing tip blocks against the wing tips and trace the airfoil onto the blocks.


Cut the excess off with a band saw.




Glue block to tip and carve to a rounded shape.



Wings are now ready to cover!

[JimD]

Wings are covered and flaps & ailerons are installed and linkages completed. Graphics from Callie Graphics applied. Best of all, the graphics avoided all of the obstacles on the bottom of the wings!

[Stew2]

Looks great!! What color covering is that? I'm thinking of a Grumman Albatross project that would use that. All ready to maiden next month?

[JimD]

[JimD]

Work has progressed and we finally got a day nice enough to take the L-19 parts outside and assemble them.

[stevekremer]

Very Nice Jim!

[gunny11]

I love it! Nice job...

[horsefeetky]

wont be long mow you will have another nice tow plane in the hanger

[Zsolomon]

Hello Jim ,
I am located in Israel , starting now the build of this awsome kit by peter G. as i like to have up front all parts needed ....can you please tell me what lengh is required of Pro links by hangar 9 , for : elirons , flaps ,elevetor and tow hook . we dont have any local stock components ....apreciate your help

Zvi Solomon

[JimD]

Hi Zvi,

Somehow, I failed to note the length of the Pro-Links as I was building the L-19. I will need to do some investigation and report back. The fuselage is currently here at home in my shop while the wings are at the airfield in the hangar. I can report the elevator Pro-Links are 3-1/2" and the tow release rod was made from a 4" Pro-Link with the threaded end cut off and rounded for the release end.

My kit was #1 after the prototype and the position of my flap servo is not the same as the production kits, but this does not change the length of the control rod.

I need to make a couple of edits to the instruction manual anyway, so I will be adding these measurements...thanks for pointing this out.